The first edition of the Stars and Stripes newspaper

Relics: Stars and Stripes Museum and Library

Since the first Stars and Stripes was printed in Bloomfield in 1861, the Department of Defense designated Bloomfield as the birthplace of the Stars and Stripes newspaper. The Missouri Stars and Stripes was printed only once during the Civil War. It wouldn’t see publication again until World War I, when it was an eight-page weekly. Publication stopped after WWI, then for the first nine months of World War II, it was restarted.


Woman riding horse and carrying flag on the beach

November 9, 1861

The Stars and Stripes, the famous newspaper for those serving in the military had been printed the night before and was distributed on this day for the first time.